TV Restaurants

Is Elena's Restaurant Still Open? Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Update

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Season 19 Waipahu, Hawaii

Current status

Open

As of October 2026, Elena's Restaurant is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

What the source shows: A Yelp listing updated in September 2026 shows the restaurant active with hundreds of reviews and over 2,000 photos, and its own website hosts a dated 2024 menu. How we decide a status →

What happened after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featured Elena's Home of Finest Filipino Foods during the 'Island Flavor' episode, aired 2014-05-23, spotlighting homestyle Filipino dishes such as the restaurant's Lechon Special and Pork Adobo Fried Rice Omelette. Elena's has served Filipino comfort food in Waipahu, Hawaii, since 1974, when Elena and Theo Butuyan, immigrants from Dagupan City in the Philippines, opened the restaurant in the former sugar plantation town. According to a Yelp listing updated in September 2026, the restaurant remains active, with more than 950 customer reviews and over 2,100 photos posted by diners. The restaurant's own website, elenasrestaurant.com, hosts a 2024-dated menu PDF and continues to describe the business as serving original family recipes, and its Instagram account, @elenasfilipino, remains active under the Waipahu location.

The episode Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Season 19

Episode 10
Aired
Title: Island Flavor · What was featured: Filipino Lechon Special and Pork Adobo Fried Rice Omelette
How Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants have fared: 27% closed →

Also in Season 19 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Season 19: 30 of 61 still open · 5 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 15 Season 19 episodes →

Nearest restaurants By distance from 94-866 Moloalo Street

All 96 TV restaurants in Hawaii →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 3 references

  1. Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/elenas-home-of-finest-filipino-foods-waipahu-3
  2. elenasrestaurant.com https://elenasrestaurant.com/
  3. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/elenasfilipino/
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Record ddd-0687 · checked by Cal Marchetti.